


Angel

by nomadicwolf



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:08:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24379213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomadicwolf/pseuds/nomadicwolf
Summary: Good Omens AU.  Natasha is a demon and Clint is an angel.  They've been tasked with doing their sides' bidding since the beginning of time, and have developed a mutual respect and friendship over the past several millennia.  With the impending apocalypse, the two have to work together to prevent the end of time.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov
Kudos: 17
Collections: Marvel Reverse Big Bang 2019





	Angel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ohstars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohstars/gifts).



> Inspired by art by OhStars!
> 
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/165269548@N03/49936579742/in/dateposted/)

_Shit_! That was the only thing that Natasha could think as she sat down at the park bench. Sure, she was as demonic as they came--and she was damn proud of that, but that didn’t mean she wanted the apocalypse… that would require her having to deal with… other demons. At least the humans were fun to torment! There was only one way that this mess was going to be solved, and for that she needed help… even if she wasn’t sure how well it would go over.

She felt someone take a seat on the adjoined bench behind her. She could smell the undeniable scent of sweets. She’d bet good money that it was him.

“You said you wanted to meet?” His deep voice asked, she could feel him shifting in his seat.

“I’ve got some bad news, Angel--”

“ _Clint_ ,” he corrected. “I’m going by Clint Barton now. It’s my new cover.”

She paused, biting her tongue. It didn’t really matter _what_ she called him, there was no one else around but them, and neither of their offices were checking in frequently enough to be a threat. “Well I can think of about three hundred less desirable names to call you if you’d like--”

He chuckled. “All right, all right. What is it? I’m missing _British Bake Off_ for this.”

She rolled her eyes and turned her head to get a proper look at him. “This is serious, An-- _Clint_. We’ve got a big problem.”

“ _We_?” He repeated. “Last I checked you and I were opposite sides--”

She scoffed. “Oh please! You know as well as I do that we took those sides a lot less seriously after the first millennia that we were stranded here.”

“Agree to disagree,” the angel said, shifting in his seat.

“Anyway,” she said, trying very hard not to snap at him. “This is big… apocalyptic big.”

He straightened up in his seat and turned to face her. “You can’t go throwing that word around just because you’re upset about something--”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Next time I deliver the antichrist to his hosts, I’ll make sure to downplay it for you,” she said snarkily. 

He stared at her for a moment before he relaxed in his seat. “That’s the emergency?”

“I don’t really think anything is going to top the literal apocalypse,” she said, eyeing him carefully.

“C’mon, Nat. We both knew that this day was going to come sooner or later. I just hope we don’t meet on the battlefield,” he said nonchalantly. “I will say, I’ve begun to enjoy our little interactions over the last several eons.”

“So you’re okay with this?” She asked skeptically. “Just because I doubt you’ll be able to indulge in _British Bake Off_ or baked goods or candies post apocalypse. Besides, you’ve been here as long as I have, I’m sure the other angels are just as welcoming to you as the demons are to me… not very.”

Clint pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “So what exactly are you suggesting? You and I cannot possibly be a match for both the powers of heaven and hell, and _the antichrist_. Even you must admit that it’s a bit out of our depth.”

She sighed. “Clearly we can’t face them all head on, that would be suicide.”

“Then what exactly are our options here? The only way I can see it is that we have to get out ahead of it,” she said, biting her lip.

“And how, may I ask, are you suggesting that we do that?” He asked. “I don’t exactly think that either side would take too kindly to us _getting rid_ of the antichrist.”

She turned back to look at him abruptly. “He’s a child! I’m not talking about child murder!”

“I’m glad we can agree on something,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m still not hearing any ideas.”

It hit her like a ton of bricks. How could she be so stupid? The answer was right in front of their faces. “He’s a child!”

“I know, I heard you the first time, and I’m still not suggesting we take him out,” he snapped back.

She slapped him not so playfully upside the head. “Think about it or a second. He’s just a child. Like any other child, he isn’t necessarily born evil… he’s just born _from_ evil. There’s a difference.”

He blinked at her. “So what? Are you suggesting that we cross our fingers and hope that the other demons had you drop him off with people who are going to raise him right? If you believe that then--”

“No, the adopted parents are horrible. They’re total gluttons and he’ll be just as power hungry by the time he’s an adolescent,” she said dismissively. 

“So you’re just full of good news today--”

“Will you shut up for ten seconds! There’s only one way for us to make sure that this child grows up to be ordinary… and that is for us to… interfere with the child rearing,” she said.

That got his attention. “Do you really think that they need two nannies?”

“One of us could be a tutor or something,” she said, still thinking through everything. “I could tell my side that I’m trying to encourage him to the path or darkness and you tell your side that you’re trying to make him good. If we succeed, then he should just be a normal, non-evil, typical human.”

He sighed. “You really think that’s enough to stop them?”

“Well, it should. He’s supposed to be the one to end it all, so if we stop him, then we stop the apocalypse,” Natasha said. “That should at least slow them down for a few millennia. Unless you’ve got a better idea. Believe me, I don’t want to spend my last few years on Earth raising a child, so if you have anything, now’s the time to share.”

He paused. “It’s a good plan. I just… I have to wonder… why would you involve me? It’s not like we’re on the same side here--”

“Right now, we’re both on side ‘Don’t blow up the Earth.’ After that’s over, we can go back to trying to thwart each other,” she said, crossing her arms. “It’s not like you have any other options here, unless you’re content to watch the antichrist destroy the world and with it you’re beloved reality television.”

“How do I know this isn’t some trick?” He asked. “That you’re not trying to distract me with this so that the real antichrist is being conditioned elsewhere?”

She took a deep breath. “Because, Angel, you had no idea that the antichrist was even on Earth until I told you about it. Why would I tell you that if I were trying to have him conditioned in secret? If that's what I wanted, then I’d be better off _not telling you_ about anything.”

He frowned clearly thinking about this in his head. “I don’t know…” his voice trailed off.

“I guess you’re just going to have to trust me on this,” she said after a moment. “I think I’ve earned that after the number of times I’ve gotten you out of trouble these past several eons.”

He gave her a look. “Oh! As if I haven’t gotten you out of your fair share of sticky situations--”

“So I think that would make us a pretty good team, don’t you?” She asked, glaring him down. “This is what matters, Angel. I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn't desperate.”

He nodded. “All right. Fine. I guess we’re both in this together then.”

She extended her hand. “Partners?”

He stared at her hand for a long moment before he took it in his and shook. “Partners.”

Getting the angel on her side was the easy part. The tricky part was going to be convincing the parents to hire her as a nanny. She did enough research to determine that the parents were going to be using an agency. That was good! She just had to pose as someone from the nanny agency… that should be easy. It couldn’t be too hard to infiltrate the agency. All she needed to do was give them a bunch of false references and she’d be golden.

She arrived at the agency bright and early. She wasn’t going to let her usual laid back attitude get in the way of her securing this spot. The fate of the world _literally_ depended on her getting hired as a nanny for this family.

Natasha walked up to the front desk and gave them her fake name. _Natalia Alianovna._ What parents wouldn’t want a stern Russian nanny for their child? As she turned to sit in the waiting room, she felt her blood begin to boil. Clint. That foolish angel was sitting in the lobby, with a bizarre patterned shirt and clashing tie. 

She sat down next to him and nudged him with her elbow. “What are you doing here, Angel?”

“What am I doing here?” He gawked at her. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“Applying for the nanny job… as per the plan--”

“The plan didn’t specify which one of us would be the nanny,” he said matter-of-factly. 

She took a slow deep breath. “Most families don’t feel comfortable with a _male_ nanny.”

“Well I think that’s ridiculous and sexist and--”

“Regardless,” she cut him off. “I think that I have the best shot of getting us through that door. You should go in under the guise of a physical therapist or something. I’m sure these parents are gonna want their kid to be the best athlete possible… even if that means having him walk earlier than expected.”

He stood up and scoffed. “Fine. I’ll try the other angle.”

“We’ll be in touch,” she said as she picked up one of the magazines on the table and began flipping through it casually. The last thing she needed was unwanted or negative attention on her. She was supposed to be blending in.

After waiting for a while she went in for her interview. She put on a thick Russian accent and told story after story about her prior fictitious nannying jobs, accompanied with several glowing letters of recommendation, that she had written herself in various different handwriting styles. She really did outdo herself this time. She wasn’t even slightly surprised that they offered her a position at the end of her interview. She doubted that the angel would have been able to pull that off.

The next step was trickier. She had to make sure that she was assigned to the antichrist and not some other family. The last thing she needed was to get stuck looking after some other kid. Luckily, the agency used a computer system to hand out assignments, and she was able to find out that hardly anyone ever checked up on it to make sure that there weren’t any mixups. 

Accessing the computer system was easy enough. The nannies were expected to check in at least once every two days to see if there were any updates to their assignments, which made it easy for Natasha to log on unnoticed. The trickier part would have been an issue if she wasn’t so familiar with computers. She had to hack into the director’s account in order to assign herself to the proper family. Since the system was… antiquated at best, she was able to pull that off within twenty minutes, it was really some of her best work.

All she had to do was show up for work and teach the kid to have a bit of a mean streak, which would be counteracted by the angel-- _the angel_. She had to find a way to get him in too. Clearly he was going to struggle with that. It would be a _miracle_ if he could manage to infiltrate the household without her help. She shook the thought from her head. One problem at a time.

When she arrived at the enormous miniature mansion where the family resided, the first thing she noticed was how thrilled the parents were to hand their child over and go to the farthest corner of the house possible. She had to give props to the demons who selected this family, she was ready to explode and she just got there. Who knew what a lifetime with these people would do to this child.

She had a few child rearing tricks up her sleeve and managed to get on the family’s good side in record time. Thank god for that stint with orphaned children in Sokovia! She never imagined that this would prepare her for stopping an apocalypse. 

Once she was in position for a few months, giving regular updates to Clint, who never seemed to stop calling her once a day for status reports, she was able to suggest to the family that it might be in their best interest to get a physical therapist.

“Practically every child has their own physical therapist to help learn to walk,” Natasha told the mother one night when they were chatting. “I know it seems soon, dear, but you don’t want the little one to fall behind, do you?”

The mother theatrically clutched her heart and shook her head. “Of course not! I can’t imagine poor little Ronan falling behind.”

Natasha nodded sympathetically. “I know someone who’s available. I can give him a call for you. I’ve worked with him before, he’s practically a miracle worker.”

The mother gave a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness. Bring him in as soon as possible. We can’t allow Ronan to have any disadvantage.”

“I’ll reach out,” Natasha said, rubbing the woman’s shoulder sympathetically. Clint was there the very next morning.

The next part was inarguably the most difficult stage of all… raising little Ronan. The child was exceedingly ordinary. Which was good for their theory but it also made raising him a challenge. Clint had the easy job. All he had to do was spew the nonsense that he usually did at the kid. Natasha was walking a tightrope. She had to be the little demon on his shoulder… but she couldn’t be too devilish. The last thing that they needed was for her to be a little too demonic and sway the kid down the path of darkness.

She tried her best to instill slightly altered human values. Instead of “stick up for yourself,” it was “strike first so you won’t be the one getting hurt.” Rather than teaching Ronan to “treat people the way that you want to be treated,” she told him to “take care of your needs first, then you can concern yourself with others.” 

Their plan seemed to be working. Sure, there were some days where he swayed more to one side than to the other, but overall he was developing to be an average kid. There were some entitled streaks but he had some moments where he was sweet and kind to others. Perfectly ordinary. He wouldn’t grow up to be a saint, but hopefully he wouldn’t be the antichrist he was destined to become.

One day while she was searching for Ronan to make sure he had his homework done, she stumbled across him and the angel. Clint was teaching the boy archery--he was barely six, but his parents insisted. He was telling him this _wonderful_ story about how important it was to treat others with respect. Natasha had to do her best not to throw up in her mouth.

She cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt but Mr. Ronan here needs to finish his homework before he continues with his extracurriculars.”

Clint gave her a look before patting Ronan on the back. “You heard Miss Natalia. It’s important to take care of your responsibilities before fun.”

The boy pouted but he didn’t argue with them. He threw his bow on the ground and walked past Natasha towards the house. 

Clint frowned as he bent down to pick up the discarded bow. “You just had to interrupt my lesson, didn’t you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Balance, remember? My side can’t think that I let you turn him all good, can they?”

He shrugged as he walked over to the bullseyes and began picking up all the arrows. “I guess not.” He glanced in the direction that Ronan walked off in. “It’s a shame, really. That this kid can’t just have a normal life--”

“If we do our job right, then he can,” Natasha said, crossing her arms.

Clint grimaced. “You really think they’re just gonna leave him alone if he denies his powers?”

“Well it’s kind of a done deal once he denies them. There isn’t any getting them back. There’s nothing that they could do that would change that,” Natasha said, turning back to make sure that Ronan was out of earshot.

He shook his head. “All I know is, both of our sides have a tendency to be vengeful.”

“Don’t do that,” she warned. “Don’t get too involved here. If we pull this off, then we will be saving all of humanity--”

“So that makes it okay if they come after Ronan, after?” Clint barked. “Typical.”

“Hey,” she snapped. “Knock it off. Don’t get soft on me now. I had to beg you to even try to save humanity a few years ago, unless you forgot. We don’t know if they’ll go after him, we don’t even know if this plan is going to work. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Angel.”

He paused before nodding. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

She nodded back. “Good. I need you to make sure your head’s on straight. I’ve gotta go make sure his homework gets done. Just try and see the positive here. If we’re right, we could save billions of souls. That’s a definite. Don’t get preoccupied on things that may not even happen if we succeed.”

She didn’t wait for him to respond. She turned around and made her way back towards the house. Natasha didn’t have the time or the energy to be worrying about hypotheticals. This was their only shot to save humanity and she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel because there might be backlash.

A few weeks later, Natasha was reading Ronan to sleep. She was telling him the story of Adam and Eve… actually she had more to do with those two’s fall from grace than she received credit for. It took a lot out of her to convince those two to eat that apple… . 

She called it the _Story of the Very Clever Serpent_. She made sure to emphasize how clever the snake was to trick Adam and Eve into eating the apple in the first place, and highlighted how just about anyone can be convinced to do something if you’re clever enough.

Little Ronan looked at her in awe, as any child would. He was enamoured by the idea that he could trick people into doing whatever he wanted… if he was just sneaky enough. Again, it was definitely a dark morale to instill, but not exactly out of character for the average child. Children were always sneaking around and trying to see what kind of trouble they could get into, and playing tricks on one another. It was a good balance.

“And they ate the apple?” He asked, his mouth agape in shock. “Even though they were told not to?”

Natasha nodded. “Oh yes. They ate the apple because the serpent was brilliant and he was able to convince them to do what he wanted.”

“Wow,” he said, his voice filled with wonder. “So I could convince someone to do something, even if the teacher or their mom said not to?”

She poked his nose playfully. “Yes… but only if you’re clever enough. You can’t always just come right out and make someone do something… but if you can outsmart them… you could get someone to do almost anything.”

“Cool!” He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

Natasha chuckled as she stood up from where she sat on the side of the bed. “Enough stories for now, my little one. It’s time for bed.”

Ronan groaned. “Can I _please_ just get one more story?” 

She shook her head. “You have school tomorrow. You can’t get clever if you’re too tired to pay attention.”

Natasha turned off the lamp that was next to the bed. “Sleep well, little one. I’ll tell you whatever story you desire when you get back from school.”

“Promise?” he asked, as she could hear him shifting around to get comfortable in the bed.

“Cross my heart,” Natasha said playfully as she made her way towards the door. She took one last glance towards the young boy before she left the room. 

She couldn’t help but think about what Clint had told her a few weeks prior. She wasn’t foolish, she knew that even if they were able to pull this off, there would likely be collateral damage. She just expected that to be her… or Clint… or both. She didn’t entertain the possibility that they could come after little Ronan. Now that she thought about it… it wasn’t out of the question. She worked for hell… they specialized in torture. 

She shook the thought from her head. One thing at a time. They had to make sure that Ronan didn’t accept his fate and ascend into the most powerful being that ever walked the earth. After that then they could worry about the repercussions. It couldn’t be too hard to hide a child from both heaven and hell… could it? She had honestly never tried it, but it might not be out of the question if things came to it.

Natasha walked over to the wing of the house where staff lived. She added that to the neverending list of why this was the perfect environment to raise the antichrist. She reached her bedroom and slipped inside. When she closed the door she was surprised to see Clint standing in her room.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed. “We can’t raise suspicion about us being here--”

“Relax, you recommended me… remember? They know that we know each other,” Clint reminded her. He rubbed his forehead. “You know we only have a few years left…” 

“I’m aware,” Natasha said as she took a seat on her bed. “You know we can’t be too drastic here… it’ll draw too much attention. This is still the best course of action.”

He nodded. “Yeah--yeah. What if… what if we didn’t do enough-- or _aren’t_ doing enough?”

She sighed. “Look, we both knew going in that this was a long shot. The only blessing is how unaware and uninvolved the parents are. We just have to hope that he grows up to a perfectly average child with no appetite for mass genocide.”

He gave her a look. “Very funny.”

“Don’t be too serious, angel. We’ll have plenty of time for that if there is indeed an apocalypse,” she tried to sound nonchalant. The last thing that they needed was for both of them to lose their heads over this. “Besides we’ve got about five more years--”

“Don’t forget how fast that time can go, especially while raising a child,” Clint said as he sat down next to her on the be. “I know we haven’t always… seen eye to eye… but I’ve considered you to be a friend for the past several centuries.”

She gave him a soft smile. “You too, angel.”

“I just… what I mean is… as terrified as I am about the… end of days and all that… I--I.. I guess I’m also just--”

“ _Christ_ , angel.” She nudged him playfully. “Spit it out already.”

He gave a light chuckle as he nodded again. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… I hope I don’t have to go the next several millennia without you to share it with.”

Natasha felt a warmth reaching her face. This was new. “I hope you’re not getting too sentimental on me now. We haven’t lost yet.”

He laughed again. “Who would have thought? You and I. On the same team.”

“I promise you. If we pull this off, you and I can go back to casually thwarting but ultimately getting each other out of trouble,” she said, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly into a smile.

“I don’t know if it’ll really be that simple,” he said sadly. “There’s a good chance that even if we’re successful, things will hardly be normal. This will be uncharted territory for the both of us.”

She shrugged. “We shouldn’t waste time worrying about something we can’t control. You should know that better than anyone. You’re always talking about the ‘ _divine plan_ ’ and how if it’s meant to be it will be. Have faith, angel.”

Clint turned to look at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it. He got up off of the bed. “It’s getting late. I’m sorry for… coming here tonight--”

“Don’t apologize,” Natasha said, standing up too. “This stuff… we’re the only two on the planet who know what’s going to happen.”

Clint gave a smile, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “Yeah, that’s true. Have a good night. I’m sure we’ll talk soon.”

“Night,” Natasha said, closing the door as Clint walked through it.

She turned around to make her way back to the bed. That was weird. Then again, the angel was always a little on the odd side. Still, this was weird even for him. 

As she was about to sit down on the bed there was a knock at her door. That was odd. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Maybe little Ronan had another nightmare and was coming to find her. It wouldn’t be the first time.

She groaned as she walked back over to the door. “All right, little one. Do you need me to scare away your monsters again?” She asked as she opened it. She was surprised to see Clint standing there.

There was a long pause before Natasha spoke up. “Did you forget something or--”

He kissed her. It was sweet and chaste, everything that you would expect from an angel… pure, and innocent.

She blinked as he stared at her for a moment. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have--”

It was her turn to cut him off. She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the bedroom, closing the door. She kissed him deeply and passionately. It was far less innocent, especially as she pushed him up against the door. She had waited several millennia for him to wake up and realize that there was something between them. She had practically given up hope back during the crusades!

When they finally broke apart, she whispered in his ear. “Took you long enough, angel.”

Clint let out a soft laugh as he kissed her again, it was still chaste, but it didn’t take long for Natasha to change that. Her tongue teased at his lips, and he opened up letting her in. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She couldn’t get enough of him.

Clint’s hands made their way to her waist. She had to fight the urge to laugh, even as they were practically devouring each other with their mouths, he was too shy to let his hands drift a little bit further south. 

Natasha moved her hands to his shoulders and broke the kiss for a moment. She hoisted herself up and wrapped her legs around his torso. This was better. She looked down at him and kissed him again. His hands made their way to her back. He was rubbing circles soothingly through her shirt.

He slowly made his way over to the bed, being careful not to drop her. He gently laid her down on the bed. Before he had a chance to rethink and become all righteous again, Natsha pulled him down with her. She felt him smile into the kiss as he placed soft chaste kisses to her neck.

Natasha felt him still as his lips met the fabric of his shirt. He looked up at her, silently asking for permission. She grinned down at him as she shifted up a bit. She removed her shirt in one fluid motion. She sat up and pushed his chin up with her index finger, stopping when their lips were a centimeter apart. He kissed her lightly--no, gently. He was gentle, his lips tracing over hers as he reached behind his back and took his own shirt off between kisses.

Natasha deepened the kiss and Clint maneuvered them so that she was lying on her back, with him hovering above her. He peppered her skin with feather light kisses, making sure to look up at her every so often to ensure that she was just as comfortable as he was. 

When he reached her brassiere, he was able to help her slip it off with ease. Natasha had to admit she was impressed. Maybe her angel’s halo was a little more crooked than she gave him credit for.

He continued his motions, pressing the smallest of kisses to her skin as he made his way down to her waist. Natasha felt herself moan as he pressed each little kiss to her skin. It felt light and gentle and… _loving_. That wasn’t something she’d ever felt before.

Clint’s lips met the waistline of her pants and he slowly began to unbutton them. He was moving much too slowly for her liking and she helped him along by kicking them off swiftly. Clint shook his head at her as he took his time removing her panties at a painfully slow pace. He made sure to kiss down her legs as he finally removed them from her body. He then brought his attention to his own pants and underwear, slipping them off in one solid motion.

He made his way back to Natasha, kissing her neck again and moving down her body towards her heat. His tongue gently lapped at her as she threw her head back in ecstasy.

She was doing her best not to buck up into him, and settled on biting her knuckle. Her other hand grasped onto Clint’s hair for dear life as he sped up his movements. She felt the pressure within her building as Clint slowly inserted a finger into her as well. _Some angel!_

Just as she was about to climax, Clint slowly backed away from her. He loomed over her and kissed her deeply as he began to ease himself into her entrance. His movements were slow and tender as he proceeded to pump in and out of her. Their lips were melding together with each and every movement. They were one.

Clint’s lips gradually detached from hers as he began paying attention to her neck, nibbling soft love bites into her skin. She made a mental note to make sure she wore a scarf the next day, because there was no way she was going to ask him to stop.

After a few moments, Clint flipped them over so that Natasha was now the one looming over him. She grinned down at him as she took control, lifting her hips up and down on his length. He was looking up at her as if she were something of beauty and perfection… she couldn’t remember if anyone had ever looked at her like that.

She let out a gasp as Clint bucked his hips up to match her movements, sending a wave of pleasure through her. Their movements started to become harsher and less coordinated. She met Clint’s eyes; they were both getting close. Natasha wrapped her arm around his neck as she pulled him even closer to her. After only a few more thrusts, they both climaxed in unison, grasping on to each other.

They stayed melded together for a few moments before Clint slowly moved Natasha off of him and onto the bed. They both lied there not saying a word to each other. Clint took Natasha’s hand in his and kissed it sweetly. At least if this was their last few years on Earth, they’d be able to spend it together.

The time it took for them to reach armageddon went much quicker than anyone would have liked. Ronan had grown up to be a mostly normal child, with the exception that he was definitely a bit spoiled as a result of his surrogate parents, but they didn’t really believe that the child would go on to cause the end of the world.

It all came down to his eleventh birthday. He would have to choose to either ascend to his powers and cause the apocalypse or turn it down and go on living his life as usual. No pressure. 

Natasha was helping set up for the party when she saw Clint across the yard. She smiled sadly at him. This was it. Everything they worked for needed to pay off today. She tried not to think about how this might be their last ever moment together. If Ronan ascended, then they’d have to go off to their respective sides to fight the great war to end all of creation. There wouldn’t be many options for any secret rendezvous if that happened.

“Nat,” Clint hissed as he approached her. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Yeah, more than one. I heard the Maximoff twins are coming. Those little brats make _me_ want to start the apocalypse,” Natasha said, trying to make sure the table cloth was even on all sides of the table.

“No, no,” Clint said, shaking his head. “This is a big problem.”

“So are the twins--”

“Tasha, listen to me,” he snapped. “We got the wrong kid.”

Natasha froze as she turned to look at him. “What? What are you talking about? That's impossible.”

“Natasha, I have it on good authority that the hound was dispatched hours ago, and neither of us has seen it,” Clint said seriously.

Natasha felt her blood run cold. The hellhound was supposed to appear to Ronan and if Ronan accepted it, then he would ascend. If he sent it away, then he’d be denying his powers. Natasha would know if there had been a hellhound on the property. She could smell their foul stench from miles away. “Shit! Clint, this isn’t possible. I dropped him off myself at the convent.”

“Well maybe there was more than one person giving birth at the convent,” he muttered. “Either way… the kid in question… it’s not Ronan.”

Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “We have to find that kid!”

Clint nodded. “Then let’s go find them.”

Fin.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a very late contribution to the MRBB due to some health issues that I had, but this project was so much fun! Huge shout out to my beta [Anne](https://melsmalone.tumblr.com)


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